Ever since I was a little boy, I've had this question on my mind.
It was, one of the most fundamental questions that led me to be an atheist, from the days I was a child.
You see, I went to a public school, but we did get these bible lessons. Once a week, this old lady came to school at Thursday afternoon, reading us bible stories. And, when I was a kid, I had no notion of the god concept. God never was part of any conversation we had at home, my parents never talked about religion or a god. So, when I grew, I even had no idea that there were people who believed in a god. To me, churches were just very beautiful and impressive buildings, where people came to listen to stories and to music and songs.
I think I was about 10 years old, when I was confronted with the concept of a god, by this old lady who came to school. And my immediate reaction to those stories was that I considered them to be fiction. Because these stories were so full of illogical and impossible events, that I even thought, as a child, they were bad fiction. Pretty poorly written. So when the old lady was reading us from the bible, I still had no idea, that she actually believed in these stories.
But when I came to realize that she was serious about these stories, I couldn't just connect the dots. There was this question that kept circling in my mind, each and every time she told her bible stories.
And that was: if there is a god, who is the most powerful being in the universe, and who loves us all, then why doesn't he stop human suffering?
I thought, if I were god, the first thing I would do is end all human suffering. You don't even have to love all of humanity for that, it would just be the right thing to do! If I were a god, there could only be one single thing that could prevent me from stopping human suffering, and that would be if I would not be capable of doing so.
But if I were so powerful that I could create planets and rivers and mountains by just talking them into existence, then I surely would be powerful enough to stop human suffering? And if I created the universe, then why would I create a universe that is full of suffering in the first place? All of that doesn't make any sense.
So the question that never left my mind, ever since I was a little kid, is:
If there is a powerful god who loves us all, then why doesn't he stop human suffering. Today it's 50 years later, and that question still hasn't been answered.
Do you have the answer? If you believe in god, can you tell me if your god is capable of ending human suffering? And if he is, then why does your god choose not to end human suffering?
I have been waiting for an answer for all of my life. So I would be most grateful if there is anyone out there, who has a credible and logical explanation for this. Thanks for your thoughts, I'll be waiting...
